Be A Producer, Not A Consumer

Everyone has heard the statement of “There are only two kinds of people in this world….” Usually, the person speaking this phrase is trying to make a point about our society and feels somehow that the polarity of the two given qualities will do the trick. Can everyone in the world really be categorized into just one of two roles? In my opinion, they can.

And at the risk of sounding just like every other pretentious philosopher out there, there are truly only two kinds of people in this world, the producers and the consumers. No, you aren’t about to be treated to a replay of your 4th grade social science class. This is a bit more complicated than that. Most everyone who makes the statement mentioned above usually has a quality they favor more than the other it is being compared to. In my case, I favor the producers.

At the heart of every article I write I try to send a message of self-empowerment. It is my deepest hope that those who wish to take control of their life will read my articles and be inspired. I sincerely want the people of my generation to not only live their life to the fullest but to realize that they have the tools within themselves to achieve this. I see no better way of living one’s life than to be a producer, not a consumer. The producers of our modern society are our artists, politicians, entrepreneurs, journalists, scientists, and our authors. All of which have literally and figuratively shaped our world through their output and innovation.

Innovation makes the world turn. Every article, every new start up, or every new high tech gadget is produced into to existence, not consumed into existence. These things are produced by someone brave enough to wake up in the morning with a purpose in life. They are brave enough to wake up in the morning with the intention of creation, not consumption. When an artist paints a masterpiece it will hang in a museum being viewed by countless people for years while no one will ever care to remember what the art critics had to say about it.

When an engineer creates a new groundbreaking gadget it becomes another step in the evolution of our modern technology catering to consumers. When an ad campaign is created and then marketed, it is the consumers that eagerly await the next message we have for them, telling them how they should live their lives. Being a producer means that you have the power to leave a legacy and most importantly the power to leave a legacy for a better future.

Of course it should be noted that without the consumers there would be no producers and vice versa. One could not exist without the other. But the danger in being a consumer lies within criticism. Some people live their whole lives criticizing what other people do. People have made entire livelihoods from pointing out where others fail or more specifically where they think others fail. Even worse, the people that criticize usually make no effort to be involved in righting the wrong that they supposedly see.

They simply stand to the side and point. The best example of this is the lack of citizen participation in and understanding of our country’s political processes. With something as important as our government you’d think we would see more action taken by our fellow citizens. No, your Facebook hate groups and updated statuses aren’t going to get the President impeached nor will it get Congress to miraculously come to a concrete decision on an issue. You will never leave a legacy from criticism.

It is so much easier to be a consumer than it is to be a producer, but despite its difficulties being a producer is an absolute privilege, a gift really. The producers are not the ones to be pitied, but rather it is the consumers who should be pitied. They will spend their time critiquing everything they won’t ever understand and deep down they probably don’t care to understand. I want my generation to care to understand and even better I want them attempt to understand through experience. Once utter failure and glorious victory have been experienced we can then move forward to creating our legacies. The producers are distinguished from the consumers when perseverance is observed no matter the setback.

I leave you with the words from our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt….

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.